Ted- In the first post I think you meant factory 649OP rather than factory 30.
The closest thing to actual evidence for Plank being pulled over objections is the piece of the F649 packing log that specifies "other than Philadelphia area".
My current thinking is that it could have gone a few different ways. All obviously speculation. And there could be a combination of some of them.
1)Plank like Wagner was printed assuming permission would eventually happen. Both players never gave permission, and both were pulled. Maybe Wagner was more likely to sue, maybe Plank was a bit more open to compromise. Either way, Wagner was pulled completely, Plank allowed existing cards to be sold but not around Philadelphia.
1a) Perhaps Plank had an agreement with another company like American Caramel that was limited to the Philadelphia area.
2)Plank was pulled in favor of including more Powers cards and that distribution was specific to Philadelphia. So Plank was very short printed for the 150 series, and was planned for 350 but his objection arose between series.
2a) Because he'd allowed permission but thought it was for ONLY the 150 series and expected payment for each year.
2b) He felt slighted over being pulled. Admittedly a very long reach on this one pulling him would be an odd choice since there were so many lesser player that could be pulled.
2c) He didn't realize he'd been included without his approval until later.
2d) His agreement with American Caramel would begin for 1910 and was exclusive. and his agreement with ALC or ATC was vague about how long his image could be used. so he couldn't be in the 350 series.
3) There was a conflict between ATC and Philadelphia caramel over the image used. That image is only in a few sets, T206, E95, and E107. E107s were too early, But E95 and T206 coincide. (There may be other sets, that I've missed)
4)There actually was an issue with at least one printing plate or stone. I've become convinced the cards were printed from stones. Two of the four P150 Planks show an odd scratch or maybe crack that doesn't fit the other P150 scratches. It's possible that one of the last runs of P150 had a lot go wrong and included Plank. That doesn't really explain the non-Piedmonts being as rare without some odd production methods. If they did need constant printing to keep up then it might make sense. A days worth of fronts printed for Piedmont, back plate breaks, printing stops, but some of the days production gets sent to a different press or presses to get SC backs. The delay is substantial, so the Piedmont front plates are resurfaced since the SC fronts are still in production. Eventually the leftovers are given SC350 backs.
That's pretty crazy from a manufacturing standpoint, but possible.
It might be provable. That proof would require a group of specifically identifiable fronts with few or no P150's a few SC 150's and very few SC350's, which would all be sheetmates with the Planks.
I'm not so sure Wagner would have been on the same sheet. If it was, that could be a further explanation for Plank being pulled.
The mismatch of the backs pattern for Plank and Wagner are both part of why I think they were not on the same sheet, but at the same time are also one of the pointers to the plates being totally redone for the 350 series. And YES, those concepts conflict with each other. If the 350's and 150's are entirely different then then Plank and Wagner may have been on the same sheet. (And Conroys hat pretty much proves 150 and 350 are different. )
I'm thinking that in between the 150s and 350s there are some very rare cards waiting to be recognized. None will be as flashy as Wagner, Plank or Magie, but they'll be just as tough. (150 fronts with 350 backs, or cards from the withdrawn sheets)
Steve B
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